Donor-funded Trauma Training Builds Skills, Connection in Stony Rapids
When a critical patient arrives at the health facility in Stony Rapids, Mark Lussier and his colleagues sometimes face a challenge few southern hospitals ever do: keeping that patient stable for hours until a plane can get in.
“We’re dealing with huge distances, and weather is a big concern,” says Lussier, a primary care paramedic who spends two weeks at a time working in the community, where patients requiring advanced care are flown to Prince Albert or Saskatoon.
In June, help came to them instead. A team of Royal University Hospital (RUH) trauma specialists travelled more than 1,000 kilometres to Stony Rapids, the 13th stop for a donor-funded program bringing hands-on trauma training to rural and northern Saskatchewan.
Over three days, doctors, nurses and paramedics practised emergency scenarios on a lifelike simulation manikin, named “Orano” in recognition of a $300,000 gift from Orano Canada, fine-tuning the skills needed to stabilize critical patients and prepare them for the flight south.
“It was about as close to real life as you could get,” Lussier says. “The manikin would talk, and if you pushed on a certain spot, he would show pain.”
The course provided more than hands-on training. Lussier says the RUH specialists made clear his crew can call any time, day or night, for help with a difficult case.
Dr. Niroshan Sothilingam, Medical Director of Trauma at RUH, says his team left with as much as they gave their northern colleagues.
“We learn about them as much as they learn about us,” he says. “When you meet them, you share a meal with them, you meet their families, you understand how they live and how hard they work. It just makes that phone call much easier and builds a community around the patient.”
“Bringing teams together in this way truly strengthens relationships, builds confidence, and creates lasting impacts that will ultimately benefit patients across Saskatchewan,” says Deb Georget, Director of Inpatient Surgical Care and Trauma.
Your generosity carries life-saving skills to every corner of Saskatchewan.
RUH trauma specialists and Stony Rapids health-care providers came together for three days of hands-on training, strengthening skills and connections across Saskatchewan.
Health-care providers in Stony Rapids practise critical trauma scenarios using “Orano,” a lifelike simulation manikin funded by Orano Canada.
